The ear is the sense organ of the body that detects sound and equilibrium in most vertebrates. The word “ear” may be used correctly to describe the whole ear, or just the visible portion. In humans, and almost all vertebrates, the only visible portion of the ear is the outer ear. Referring to FIG. 1, shown is a cross-sectional view of a human ear. The outer ear includes the pinnae 102 (also called auricle), the ear canal 104, and the very most superficial layer of the ear drum (also called the tympanic membrane) (not shown). The complicated design of the human outer ear and the ear canal helps capture and guide sound toward the ear drum. Unfortunately, this same design, which is efficient at collecting sounds, is also efficient at guiding liquids into the ear canal as well.
Not only can moisture present in the ear canal be an annoyance, it can oftentimes result in infection and injury and problems with balance and equilibrium. Examples of common situations where moisture intrusion can occur includes water introduced during showers and baths, water introduced while having one's hair washed at a beauty salon, water introduced during rainstorms, chemicals introduced during hair dying or curling, blood introduced during a surgery, and many others. In addition to damage or annoyance that can be caused to the ear itself, there are other reasons one may wish to avoid moisture intrusion into the ear. One such reason is the presence of an electronic hearing aid. For most hearing aids, moisture can easily ruin or damage the aid and should be strictly avoided. Another such reason for avoiding moisture intrusion in the ear is the presence of cotton or other materials present in the ear for the purpose of healing the ear or protecting the ear.
Some ear covers have been developed that attempt to protect the ear from moisture. One such cover is a miniature shower-cap-shaped plastic cover with a round opening. The opening is intended to be placed over the pinna and rest on the portion of the outer ear that makes contact with the head. This portion 100 is shown in FIG. 1. However, the round opening does not properly follow the oblong shape of the outer ear and does not fit securely against the portion 100 of the ear that meets the head. In addition, this prior-art device is made of a plastic material that is baggy, non-stretchy, and does not conform to the human ear. Furthermore, it is difficult to remove once it has been placed over the ear. This is especially true when the device is wet.
Other devices provide draw strings and/or chin straps and other methods of placing tension on the ear covers, thereby causing them to stay on the head. However, these covers are complicated, expensive to make, time consuming to apply, and difficult to use. In addition, the covers with chin straps allow moisture to enter the ear at certain angles, since the tension is only placed on the covers from one direction.
Therefore a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.